FROM BEACON VALLEY, ANTARCTICA TO MARS: BRINGING THE PolarTREC TEACHER RESEARCH EXPERIENCE TO THE CLASSROOM

PolarTREC is an educational research experience in which K-14 teachers participate in polar research with scientists as a pathway to improving science education. The program is funded by the National Science Foundation and managed by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States. Teachers share their experiences with scientists, educators, communities, and students around the world during the expeditions through online journals, and translate the experience to the classroom by developing curricula based on the research expedition.

A 2008 PolarTREC teacher research experience involved drilling through buried ice beneath glaciers in one of the Dry Valleys located in the cold-polar desert region of Antarctica. PolarTREC teacher Jacquelyn Hams accompanied Boston University researchers Dr. David Marchant and Sean Mackay to Beacon Valley, Antarctica. Beacon Valley is significant because the ice beneath it is estimated to be over several million years in age, making it the oldest ice known on this planet and it is one of the most Mars-like climatic environments and landscapes on Earth. In order to translate this unique environment to the classroom, lesson plans were created for students to study the topography, glacial landforms, and wind patterns of Beacon Valley. Students also examine the same imagery that scientists use to study the processes that operate in the extreme environments of Antarctica and Mars.

The topographic maps and aerial images of Beacon Valley were obtained from the NASA LIMA (Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica) website and Mars imagery was obtained from the University of Arizona HiRISE (Hi Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) website. Wind data was downloaded from an anemometer in Beacon Valley and provided courtesy of Sean Mackay of Boston University. The lesson plans are available through the PolarTREC website or by contacting Jacquelyn Hams at hamsje@lavc.edu.